2996 Tribute: Seamus L. Oneal

I remember waking to the alarm clock early on the morning of 12 September 2001 here in New Zealand and wondering what in the world I was hearing; something about the Pentagon having been bombed? I grabbed the TV remote and lay there stunned as the events that were happening so far away unfolded before me.

A woman I worked with at the time brought a small TV into the office that day. I don’t think much work was done – we alternated between watching what was happening and dialing in to CNN, BBC or any other news network on-line to get updates. We watched horrified as the towers collapsed, knowing that many lives would be lost.

Today is the fifth anniversary of that terrible day.

As part of the 2996 project the man who has been assigned to me to remember and pay tribute to is:

Seamus L Oneal, 52, an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald’s eSpeed division in the World Trade Centre.

I’ve been fortunate to find a profile on the man who was Seamus Oneal and this is posted below. He is survived by his partner; three children; a brother, John and other relatives. Please remember them on this day as well.

Many Names, Many Faces

For Seamus Oneal, the idea of having one career and one name was much too timid. By 52, he had worked in five widely different professions, using three different names. As James, he studied drama at the University of Oklahoma, and as Seam, he acted, danced and sang in Off Broadway shows. "It would be fair," said John Oneal, his brother, "to call him a hippie."

Seam Oneal the hippie joined the Army, became Captain Oneal and won medals for his work in hospital administration. Nevertheless, after converting to Mormonism, he and Janet Kaye, his wife, and their three children moved into a bed and breakfast by a big Maryland temple and ran it together. Eventually, though, he returned to college to study advanced computer science, moved to Manhattan and took a job with eSpeed, a division of Cantor Fitzgerald.

Along the way, he composed liturgical choral works that were played by the Mormon temple's orchestra. And he dropped Seam and became Seamus. "He said, 'There might be other Jameses,' " said his brother, " 'but there won't be other Seamuses.' He was something. A piece of art."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on November 28, 2001.

RIP Seamus Oneal.